Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Rasgulla/Rosgulla and a celebration!

Two fantastic months passed away in a flashing speed..Blogging was not that happening as I was busy getting married :) :)
I wish...I hope....I pray...that I would never give anymore excuses from now on to be away from blogging this long :P You see, I got a reason to cook everyday now.. a wonderful husband to taste test my kitchen creations :D

A sweet recipe to share the sweet news--Rasgulla!

Rasgullas are one of the easiest sweet dishes to make. Trust me on this. Simple ingredients and its fun to make.




Preparation time: 1hour
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes : 20 large Rasgullas


You will need:
1/2 gallon/ 2 liters full fat milk
1/3 Cup of lemon juice
2 Cups of Sugar
4 Cups of Water
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 pods of Cardamom, crushed
2 tsp rose water (optional)

In heavy bottom vessel (I used pressure cooker), bring the milk to a boil.

Reduce the heat and add the lemon juice and stir gently as the milk curdles. Turn off the heat and let it cool for few minutes. In the mean time, prepare a strainer lined with muslin/thin cotton cloth.


Pour the curdled milk on the cloth and gently gather the ends of the cloth and tie them loosely.

Hang this cloth with cheese (chenna) to strain the whey over a vessel. You could slide this on a spoon and place it over a tall vessel. (see picture for the setup)

After 15 minutes or so, the cheese will be cooled down and you can gently squeeze out the excess whey from the cheese.




Collect the cheese on a mixing bowl and knead for 5-7 minutes with baking powder to get a smooth dough. This ensures the rasgullas from breaking apart while cooking. Keep it covered with a moist cloth.

In a pressure cooker or any wide bottomed vessel, bring the sugar and water to a roaring boil. Add the cardamom.


While the mixture is boiling, start shaping rasgullas. I used a spoon to measure up the dough to get even sized rasgullas. Make nearly 20 rasgullas. The balls should be smooth without any cracks. Keep the shaped rasgullas and dough covered with the moist cloth while working.


Add the rasgullas in batches, when the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is boiling. There should be room for the rasgullas to puff up. Cover it and cook till the rasgullas become double in size. Or cook it for one whistle.


To check if the rasgullas are perfectly cooked, drop one rasgullas in a cold water. If it floats it needs to cook more.


Transfer the rasgullas with the syrup in a serving bowl and stir in the rose syrup. It can be served warm or chilled.